Polyethylene Identification in ocean water samples by means of 50 keV energy electron beam

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel electron beam irradiation method at 50 keV to detect polyethylene microplastics in ocean water by analyzing photon fluxes and spectra resulting from electron-water interactions.

Contribution

It presents a new spectroscopic technique using electron irradiation to identify polyethylene traces in ocean water samples, focusing on photon flux analysis and atomic interactions.

Findings

Effective detection of polyethylene in water samples.

Distinct photon spectra associated with polyethylene presence.

Potential for non-invasive microplastic analysis in marine environments.

Abstract

The study presented hereafter shows a new methodology to reveal traces of polyethylene (the most common microplastic particles, known as a structure of C_2 H_4) in a sample of ocean water by the irradiation of a 50 keV, 1 uA electron beam. This is performed by analyzing the photon (produced by the electrons in water ) fluxes and spectra (i.e. fluxes as a function of photon energy) at different types of contaminated water with an adequate device and in particular looking at the peculiar interactions of electrons/photons with the potential abnormal atomic hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), carbon (C), phosphorus (P) compositions present in the water, as a function of living and not living organic organisms with a PO4 group RNA/DNA strands in a cluster configuration through a volumetric cells grid.